


meanwhile, back at the ranch

by green_tea31



Series: MacGyver Season 3 Tags [2]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Episode Tag, M/M, Mission: Add Jack To Season Three, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 09:31:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16365299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_tea31/pseuds/green_tea31
Summary: Tag to 3x04. Jack is stuck in D.C. He still manages to take care of his partner. Phones are discussed.





	meanwhile, back at the ranch

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently this is a series of tags now. The Mac/Jack is slightly more overt in this one. I actually quite liked this episode despite Jack's absence. This was inspired by the look on Mac's face when he realised he had to destroy his own phone, that moment pretty much made the episode for me. Holding my thoughts on the end until next week's episode, though. 
> 
> On slang/colloquial language/accents: English is still not my first language. Whenever I'm writing dialogue, internal or external, I try to make it sound as natural as possible but accents are one of the hardest things to write, especially if you have a different first language so I usually keep it to a minimum. Just imagine George Eads' lovely voice in your head while you read it. I do.
> 
> Apology to all residents of Washington D.C. I have never been to the city and have no particular opinion about it, I just needed Jack to be extra grumpy. 
> 
> Warning for slightly longish rambling about Jack's absence in the End Notes.
> 
> Still self-betaed, all mistakes are mine.
> 
> No idea where the title comes from, it's been stuck in my head for what feels like days now.

Mac isn’t answering his phone.

Jack knows, realistically, there are about a million different things that can interfere on an op and keep Mac from his phone but, still. Jack might be a bit sensitive after the last few months.

Also, he’s stuck in Washington D.C.

Jack hates D.C.

He’s sitting in a dingy little café while somewhere else people he’s never seen before and likely will never see again get to decide if he still has a future with the U.S. government. Oh, don’t get him wrong, Jack already knows what they’ll decide. He’ll get a slap on the wrist, maybe an official reprimand and then they’ll send him back to L.A and the loving arms of the Phoenix Foundation to resume his job. Jack might piss off Matilda Webber on a weekly basis but he is still useful enough, still good enough at his job that she’ll press on just about any contact she has in this city to get him back as quickly as possible. Jack is also pretty sure that she likes him at least a little.

The other reason they’ll send him back? Mac. Jack’s crazy lunatic of a partner who followed Jack to Honduras without question. Mac, who was so obviously uncomfortable with Jack’s old team but who never asked questions, just told him if they were Jack’s family they were Mac’s family, too. Jack knows that Mac has a hard time letting people in, accepting that people want Mac for being who he is not what he can do for them. James MacGyver probably had a lot to do with that or at least that’s where Jack is choosing to lay the blame right now.

By the end of that crazy little jaunt, Mac had been ready to die with him, with them, just because they were important to Jack, and then, after their miraculous rescue, courtesy of Matty The Hun, Mac had slid into the place Jack’s team had made available for him with all the grace of a newborn colt on a Texas morning, but the important part was that Mac _had_ accepted it. On his own, without any prompting from Jack.

Jack is going to improve the kid’s sense of self-worth even if it is the last thing he ever does. 

He’s still clutching his phone after having tried to reach Mac about half a dozen times and jumps when it suddenly starts to vibrate. It’s Riley.

“Riley, what the hell. Everything alright? ‘Been trying to reach Mac for at least an hour…”

The voice on the other end turns out to be decidedly less female than Riley’s and sounds a lot more like Jack’s partner. “Hey, Jack. Sorry about that. My phone had a little…accident during the mission. But it’s over now and we’re on the way back. How are things on your end? You still employed by the government? Or do we have to come and bail you out?”

Mac sounds exhausted, weird somehow. Like he’s stuck underwater or been holding his breath for too long. Jack’s gonna have a long talk with his partner and possibly with medical when he gets back. He knows the difference between Mac’s “I’m simply tired” voice and the “I need medical attention as soon as possible” version. This is definitely the latter one. But until then…

“What do you mean, accident? You drop a tank on it or something?” Jack asks. He’s pretty sure he knows what happened to the phone, he just wants Mac to admit it.  

“Not…exactly.” Mac hesitates and takes a deep breath, coughing once, dammit, definitely gonna talk to medical then. “I might have used it to stabilize something.”

Jack grins, imagining the chagrined look he knows is on his partner’s face right now. He’s been waiting ages for this. “Sooo, how was it then? Destroying your own phone for once?”

“Actually it was kind of weird. I mean, this wasn’t the first mission without you but…I kind of missed you, man. Not just your phone.”

And doesn’t that just warm places of Jack’s heart he’d almost forgotten existed. God, he loves that kid something fierce and that’s as far as Jack’s willing to admit to it right now. No need to complicate their relationship any further now that they’ve gotten back on track. Jack is pretty content the way it is.

“Don’t worry buddy. I’ll be back before you know it. All the Jack you ever wanted…and that sounded different in my head.” Mac’s laughing now, trying, but failing, to hide his persistent coughing. “Get some sleep, kid. You sound like you need it. And hand me Riley, will ya? I need to talk to her for a moment.”

“Jack, I…” Mac sounds like he’s just about to fall asleep.

“I know, Mac. Me too. Now hand me Riley and go to sleep.” There’s silence on the other end for a second or two as Mac is apparently doing what Jack has told him to and then Riley’s voice, sounding just as exhausted but a lot less rough than Mac’s did.

“Jack. What’s up?”

“All right, girl. Here’s post mission damage control protocol 101: How to take care of your partner. First, you gotta talk to medical, no matter what Mac says…”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Slightly longish rambling about Jack's absence this week:  
> When I first got into the MacGyver fandom I was slightly worried because George Eads is significantly older than most of the other actors and that can go pretty wrong if an actor decides they want to spent more time with their family and/or the shooting schedule is too exhausting (I recently started watching Lethal Weapon which, in hindsight, might have been a mistake, they really don't know what they're doing with their actors over there), so if the odd episode without George Eads means we get to keep him on the show, I'm actually pretty happy with that. Doesn't mean I can't shamelessly add him to every episode afterwards though ;)


End file.
